Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-03-25

not sure"-and she paused-"I'm not
sure but that, now that l have made up
my mind to break off my Irritation with
him, l like him rather better than l
thought did. If it's going to be hard on
him, it's just possible that it may be a
little hard on me Also"
Cora delivered herself of this little
harangue before the mahogany bureau
and its mirror, where, indeed, she seemed
usually to be standing when in the retire
ment of her own room.
What sort of answer she expected me
to make do not know, but what did
say, bluntly, was this:
81 wonder if your blind, or if you
think am? 1t has struck me that Mr..
Whitney is doing on his side Just what
you are doing on Withdrawing. "
suppose these are brutal things to say
to girl. But Cora was of the sort who
could stand them. Her best quality was
an elastic, fibrous, indestructiblc kind of
courage and frankness. She never hest
tated to apply the test of the latter to
herself, She now turned round and
looked at me with a placid contem-
plativeness.
Il have noticed that" she said,
calmly. "What do you suppose is the
reason? | wonder if any one can have
been saying anything"
"What could they say?"
Gone never knows" she returned,
falling to fresh brushings of her hair
with an absent hand.
| will admit that if Cora had cult
waited but one art she had mastered that
one in all its details, and attained not
alone a wondrous scent for the possible
ties of its successive stages. but. which
appears to he rare enough to entitle it to
special commendatory mention, an
equally unfailing instinct with regard to
the exact time when the game might be
said to have passed out of her hands.
She acted now with a promptness and
finish which | could not but impartially
admire. Instead of enervating herself
in baff1ed attempts to draw her recalcit-
rant admirer back within the circle of
her fascination she announced to him.
with charmingly natural gayety, the
next day, that she had suddenly decided
to go back to town.
IL am very sorry to go. too, she said,
pensively, Il have had such a very de-
lightfu time, in spite of the dullness,
thanks to you. Mr.. Whitney,
She did the whole thing so well that in
token of my approval told her l would
go back home with her.
We left, with flying colors, the follow
ing morning.
Mr.. Whitney, laden with a basket of
fruit, etc. came down to see us off. He
stood on the platform till the train began
to move. and to the last Cora piled him
with smiles. As he stepped back from our
window with parting salute and ling
ering look toward Cora. two young men
came running along the platform and
boarded our gliding car, which appeared
to be the last. They caught sight of him,
shouted Hello! You here?" laughed,
nodded; and then Stanhope Whitney
passed out of our sight.
The two young men found an empty
seat Immediately front of Cora and my
self
Wonder what Whitney is doing at this
jumping off place. cried one of them.
"Oh, he 5 putting the new road through,
you know said the other.
That so:' And they opened their
newspapers
An hour later, as we were waiting. in
the purposeless fashion way trains affect
IN rural districts. at an uninteresting look
ing station, for apparently nothing in par
tcular ii became evident that our neigh
bors had fallen to discussing the friend
from whom Cora had Just summarly
parted.
by Jove!' one of them was excaim-
ing, IF the girl had been a sister of mine
| would have had something to say about
that. think
"Old trick OF Whitney's s. returned the
other, nonchalantly. Hes going for
money, you know. have known him
to have half dozen such affairs If. in
the middle of Irritation he finds out
that girls financial prospects are slim,
or NIL he has no scruple about drawing
gracefully into the background-at once
not the least. He'll gain his point yet,
you'll see. Whatever's the reason, the
girls all take to him. He seems to have a
certain way with him. There always one
or another on the tapis The one with
the hatful of money will be forthcoming
one of these days, too, haven doubt. "
| turned slowly, and met Cora S ewes.
She had heard, of course, as distinctly as
myself. Suddenly she put her handker-
chief up to her face and burst. behind its
shelter, into an interminable peal of
noiseless laughter. These, then, were lit
tie games at which two could play as
well as one.-Evelyn Thorpe in New
York Mercury.
House Furnishing in Mexico.
II is no pyapperatiOn IN sav tbat